May 31, 2016

From Mom:

Dear Elder Smith,

We attended a fireside last night put on by Brother Patrick showcasing some of the fun stuff on his mission. Did you know they had to come back three months early due to their son and daughter-in-law, Spencer and Shani, having premature twins and needing help? So technically, the Patricks should still be on their mission. He started the fireside by saying, "I would rather still be on my mission because it's way easier than real life; the whole world is praying for you, the Spirit is with you all the time, you get to associate with awesome missionaries, and people generally like you." Haha. At the end, Matthew Wright asked him if could go on another mission, where would he go? Brother Patrick responded, "Anchorage, Alaska." Lol! So he really loved his mission.

It was worth coming home early to attend the fireside. Sam and I were in Cardston to "help" with branding time at Liz and Jeff's. Mostly, I just wanted to see what it was like and Jeff put Sam to work. His job was to wrastle the calves down so they could brand them, immunize them, give them a booster shot and castrate them if needed. It was hard, messy work. Steph was there doing a documentary photography project and Tyler was put to work wrastling as well. I helped Liz in the kitchen as all the farm hands come in later to chow down on some grub. It was so interesting to experience a small part of ranch life and, of course, we loved spending time with cousins and seeing Steph and Tyler.

The next morning, Steph and I went for a run along that old highway on the Bectell property. As we were jogging along, enjoying the scenery and chatting, I was struck by the realization that there was no place I'd rather be. Later, we were hiking in Waterton with everyone and Grandma and Grandpa Smith and I thought, "There is no place I'd rather be." When Sam and I drove home and sat down with the fam to tell them everything from our trip I realized there was no place I'd rather be. Now, this morning, as I'm writing my missionary son an email, there is no place I would rather be. Wouldn't it be great if we could say that about life all the time?

"There is no place I'd rather be."

I think when we are in the right place at the right time, we can be assured that it's important to live that moment to the best of our ability. Like Neal A. Maxwell said, "Moments are the molecules that make up eternity." I decided to try to make my moments matter more.

This reminded me of a visit I had with 95 year old Sue. She was sharing with me some regrets she had about her life. I asked her if she could do it over again, what would she change? Her reply was that she would make every day matter.

The only way I know how to make my moments and days matter more is to partner with the Lord in everything I do through keeping the commandments, praying and studying the scriptures because this enables the Spirit to be with me. The Spirit is the defining factor. I'll let you know how this week goes in my next email. 😊

I also had a really great experience last week with Cindy Garbutt, who you met in the Dartmouth Ward. You know she moved here and has been trying to figure out western Canada. One of the things she wanted to do was attend the Cardston Temple, since she has never been. She is the only member in her family and didn't really want to go alone so she asked me if our ward ever goes there on temple trips. Of course, we don't... ever since the Edmonton Temple was built, so I suggested we take a trip ourselves and invite some other people to come. We ended up going with four of us: Ada Driessen, Annelle Lawrence, myself and Cindy. You know that Annelle and I were friends when we were kids, right? Her and I sat in the back seat and chatted the entire way about life in general. I loved it. When we arrived at the temple, quietly waiting for the session to start, I see Siobhan Westrop come in. (She's the one we visited in China, remember?) So, there I was in the temple, sitting with dear friends and feeling that the Lord puts people in our lives for a reason. We went through the session and visited in the Celestial Room discussing spiritual things. We walked away feeling edified and strengthened.

I so much appreciate the covenants we make with God at baptism and in the temple. They are a lifeline for me, constantly reminding me of what is most important in life. I think reminding myself of those covenants might be an effective way in making my moments matter more.

And gratitude. Being thankful for all the tender mercies and fantastic things life has to offer is other way to grasp hold of moments. When Sam and I drove up to the house yesterday, I was tired. I was nursing a four day headache (still struggling with whiplash stuff), and felt sore and impatient. The girls started whining and crying the minute I came home. Dad said they were good all weekend. Go figure. I was feeling discouraged with all the things that needed to be done. In that moment I was not thinking, "There is no place I would rather be." I wanted to hide in my bed with the light off, door locked and earplugs in. Haha. Instead, I noticed that Dad had built a raised flower bed in the front yard just like I wanted. (The front yard is all tore up and we're slowly redoing it.) I went out and looked at it and felt so grateful for a loving husband. I remembered that life does have it's ups and downs but good can always be found if we look for it. After the fireside, some food and a good night sleep, all those gloomy feelings are gone and I'm ready for the day. I'm excited to get some flowers in!

So, keep on keeping on, my boy. In all the ups and downs, remember there is always the good, even if we can't see it in the moment. I love the Gospel for the fantastic perspective it gives. I love the Gospel for its ability to make my earthly moments matter. I appreciate the Spirit which guides and directs me to choose the greater good. Always remember that you are where you need to be, that you are doing a great work (even if it doesn't feel like it sometimes), that your moments are adding up and building you into a person Heavenly Father designed you to be. Remember that you are loved by me and Dad, by your siblings, by your Grandparents and so many others. We are proud of you and think you are so fantastic. Keep moving no matter what because Movement is a principle of the Gospel. When we do our part, then God can work miracles. I really believe that.

Love you forever,
Mom

P.S. Matthew Wright wanted me to ask if you received his letter of a few weeks back. Did you?

From Josh:

Hey! sorry I wasn't able to email yesterday, holidays that are on Mondays are to be treated as a regular work day, and so we got to do a whole bunch of things for memorial day yesterday, we were mostly faced with rejection though, so that was sad. One thing though that we got to do was catch someones dog that had gotten away from her, with that we were presented with the opportunity to share of the Gospel and testify of the truth of it to her, we gave her a book of mormon and invited her to read and find out the truth of it for herself. We will be going back in a week to teach her more.

Its so good to hear all of the adventures you are having and the opportunities to grow and experience, wrastling a calf sounds like a fun time! 

The other day I got to go on splits with a priest in our ward who is Sam's age and the whole time I couldn't help but think of all the great moments we had as brothers, every moment is something I treasure immensely. 

While working with him we knocked on this house and this man opened the door and looked really excited to see us, he called his daughter out with him and we went through who we are and what we were sharing and then he asked if he could share his beliefs he went on to ask who we thought Christ was, I told him that he was our savior that he died for us, that he is the son of God, that was where he stopped me and went on to tell us that we were sorely wrong, that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit were one being, that Jesus was in fact God, and that it was his job (the guy speaking) to correct our misbegotten ways. With adrenaline pumping in my veins and my heart beating rapidly I told him of Joseph Smith and his miraculous vision, I shared my conviction of the Book of Mormon, and how it is the evidence of all we believe and talk about, I invited him to read it and pray to know of its truth. The whole time I was speaking he looked at me with a condoning smile as if I was a young child who did not know anything at all, and after I finished he went on again and repeated everything he had said about the trinity adding that because he loved us he wanted to let us know that we were wrong, that we could never be saved unless we changed our views, and before he finished I pulled an Elder Thorpe, which was to wish him a good day and not waste any more time with him, so I turned and walked away. 

This is just one of the many times that this has happened, and I want to tell you that telling someone they are wrong will only cause hurt and pain and will not change a persons mind. In 2 Nephi 26:27 is Gods command to persuade not persecute, Persuade means to urge, impel or influence someone and it is the best way to bring someone to their own understanding of the truth. To build up someone while helping them to change. 

The time I am spending here in Saugus has really brought me to an understanding of my own short comings, and I don't know how I can change to be a better missionary, in one of our district meetings we spoke on change and left it to the missionaries in our district to help understand what we can do, and one of the sisters said that we must first understand what we lack and she shared the experience of the Rich young merchant when he asked "what lack I yet?" So our challenge in our district was to pray fervently to ask what we lack, and I have come to find that I lack a lot of confidence to act. So a lot of my studies have been dedicated to how I can gain confidence, and everything usually boils down into Faith, having faith in the Lord and putting full trust in him breeds confidence. 

I have come to realize that another one of my shortcomings is in writing letters and emails, I think way too much on what I am going to say and soon run out of things to say.

all I really want to say is be faithful, and grow your testimonies, Abby and Mia, try to read in the scriptures as much as you can, because in them holds the words on life, and I have found so much steadfastness in them, I challenge each and everyone of you to not only strengthen yourselves but share these words with everyone.

We are fighting a real war here, and we need every man and woman to fight for God.

I love you all so much. 

…

P.S 

I Got Matthews letter, and I have my response ready to send so I will be sending that today.  

Pictures

You all look amazing, and I am so glad I have the chance to see you.

The first picture is me my district, from right to left

Elder Thorpe

Sister Arrington

Sister Ipson 

Sister Bosshard 

Sister Ames

Elder Clark

Elder wade

Second picture is our boy band picture with me Elder Thorpe, Elder Clark and Elder Wade looking the other way

 

us goofing off again

Us at David Garabays Baptizm

Right to Left

Me

Mikey Garabay

Elder Thorpe

David Garabay

Christian Garabay

Gracy Garabay

Jennifer Garabay

Sister Maxfield

Sister Peterson

May 23, 2016

From Mom:

Guess who I went with to the Cardston Temple? Sis. Cindy Garbutt, who recently moved here from Dartmouth. She had never seen it and I thought we should remedy that. In my long email that I'm going to send you for next p-day, I'll tell you all about it. :)

I love you! The Gospel is true. Remember we pray for you every day.

Love, 

Mom

From Josh

This week was pretty good, still got lost a lot, but have been settling into the area well.

This week has been a blur and honestly I have hardly any clue what happened to it, one day we were shopping for P-day and the next we were going to church and trying to get investigators there. It has been really crazy. 

I do not have much to say, I hope you all are having a good week and I am really glad that you are all well. 

Something that has recently bothered me are three words people most often say at the door, "I am comfortable" I am comfortable with my religion, I am comfortable with my understanding of the Bible, I am comfortable where I am at in life. These things make me so sad, and I hope that nobody in The Church of Jesus Christ ever settles into that "I am comfortable" mind set, we should never feel comfortable, we should always be seeking to expand our views increase our testimonies, strengthen our conversion, Captain Moroni in a time of peace was not content with being comfortable, he built up fortifications and battlements and forts and defenses relentlessly, he was not content with sitting back and saying all is well, as he did so should we, at a time when we are not going through any specific trials, when life is good, we should never slacken our efforts to build ourselves up, we should never forget to study the scriptures, we should never forget to pray, we are always changing for better or for worse, there is no "comfortable" so when you find yourself getting comfortable with where your testimony is at, then that should immediately tell you that you need to be acting. In the words of Jeffrey R Holland, "Salvation was never easy" and in the words of the prophet Thomas S Monson "Choose the harder right" It is not easy to be part of Christs church so don't ever get comfortable.

A couple Highlights of this week:

I am in the Saugus 3rd ward and this lady walked up to me from the 2nd ward and we started talking and she said that she came from the Redd family, and I remember hearing that name, and asked her if she was related to Guinevere Redd and she decided to look it up, I found out yesterday that she is my second cousin twice removed and that she is second cousins to Grandma Smith, It is a small world

we also had the chance to be in the Home of Jon Heder who acted Napolian Dynamite. He is really cool and I don't know If I will ever watch Napolian Dynamite the same. 

Having wings for District meeting!

May 16, 2016

From Dad:

Hi Josh,

This is my first letter since the phone call and so I want to reflect on what a wonderful experience it was. I'm still kicking myself for not figuring out ahead of time how to record it. Those were priceless moments and memories we'll have to make sure and record in our journals at the least. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. I could tell that Sam and Ben were loving seeing their big brother again. I'm not sure you know what a powerful influence you have on them and what a positive impact it is on their lives to lead the way into the mission field.

I was especially struck by your own conversion story as you went through the crucible of doubt and came out with a refined testimony on the other side. I could certainly sense the struggle at the time but of course no one can be converted for us. Thank you for the powerful testimony you bore and for your choice to believe. It will have repercussions for generations to come. We love hearing the details of the people you meet, your companions and the little details of your mission.

I think we might have mentioned on the call that we dug up the front yard. Included a few pics for your viewing pleasure. Ben was a trooper and helped me all day long to cut out and haul the sod to the dump. Also captured a pic of Tutti Frutti for Sam's birthday. He managed to fill up a $17 yogurt! 

A couple of months ago Tyler mentioned to me that he was reading a book called "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I was interested and so I picked up the audio CDs from the library and have been listening to it. It is quite fascinating and pretty deep, but one section in particular really got me thinking. The book is essentially the story of a father and son on a motorcycle trip across the country and the thoughts the father has and shares along the way. One thought he discusses is the idea of "gumption". It is kind of an old fashioned word but he defines it like this: "A person filled with gumption doesn't sit around dissipating and stewing about things. He's at the front of the train of his own awareness, watching to see what's up the track and meeting it when it comes." It is a similar word to "enthusiasm". I was reminded of it last night in our Stake priesthood meeting when we watched the Mormon message called "Strive", another great word. The next thing he discusses in the book is what he calls gumption traps and states, " the thing that must be monitored at all times and preserved before anything else is the gumption". I think over the next few letters I might share with you some of the gumption traps he discusses as I think they are very relevant to our ability to be successful and happy. If we can learn to push through the struggles and setbacks and keep our "gumption" and enthusiasm high, we can accomplish most anything. I think it is part of the formula for opening ourselves up to the help of the Lord as he is most interested in us becoming like him and as we do, he magnifies those efforts.

There, I've given my speech for the week :) One of the pictures I've attached shows one of our YM activities where the priests and the deacons built a "Monkey" rope bridge. The kids had a great time on it and Sam was the 5x winner of the challenge to knock everyone else off.

Life carries on and we love it. Full of experiences and setbacks that we get to conquer. We are excited that we got our development permit on Friday. That allows us to move ahead with ordering the house and doing a bunch of things to get the building permit in place which will open up the whole flood gate of things to do to actually build it!

Exciting times, Elder Smith, both at home and in California. Hope and pray that you will be filled with gumption this week! 

Love,

Dad.

From Josh

Wow! the yard looks great! and I am so excited to be able to come home and see everything that has changed.

Updates!! 

I am with a new companion in the Saugus 3rd ward, his name is Elder Thorpe, we both got together and are whitewashing an area, which means that we are going in blindfolded, we replaced sister in this area and have been lost every single day so far this week, we do not have a GPS and are relying on a map for guidance, it has been such and adventure and it is really so much fun, Elder Thorpe and I get along really well which has made this transfer super great so far, we are co-district leaders together and have had such a great time teaching and going out and working together, I am in a ward full of people that are really friendly to missionaries and they have given us food every day so far, our dinner calender is full and everything is great, the problem with having such a great connection with my companion is that we will talk a lot, and will often get to bed late, so I have recommitted myself to being on time for everything like studies and bed and knocking.

I have set a goal, I am trying to get out of my shell more, I realized that I have the habit of really wishing I could talk to someone but then second guessing myself until I miss the chance to have a good conversation with someone that could have influenced their lives, so I have dedicated myself to talk to people even if its awkward, especially when it is awkward, so that I could learn to come out of myself, I read this talk that said that we are always changing no matter what we do or how we do things, even if we are doing nothing we are changing, and you can either change for the better or change for the worse, so I choose to change for the better. I am going to talk to people I choose to act before i start second guessing myself, so I can be a more social person. I have also been learning about being bold and challenging people to do things that will benifit them. 

I challenge you all to break out of your shell, when your passing someone at work and feel you should talk to them don't let doubt pull you back, talk to them. if you feel like you should knock on your neighbors door before that doubt sets in knock and say hi. Put yourself in those awkward situations so that you can teach yourself how to act when your are called upon to do that, walking out of school from seminary, talk to someone, after activities talk to someone you wouldn't usually talk to, invite that girl you like on a date "Sam" (not to single anyone out Sam) at Acro you can speak to someone in your class that is shy, the time is now that you must step out of your shell. So do it, Act,, become who you need to be. No more excuses. 

I love you all, and will be expecting a report next week Sam, go on dates! 

Me and Elder Wilson doing crafts and me giving service I lost my favorite tag as you can see.

To All:

Oh my goodness! So much has happened in this week and I only have 4 minutes.

I have a new companion, His name is Elder Thorpe from Ogden Utah, he is a pretty neat guy and is really outgoing, I am in Saugus California and am doing a whitewash of the area, which means we replaced two missionaries by coming in here, so we are both new, we both don't know what we are doing and are both doing great! we are loving the challenge and are working hard to progress the Lords work in this area, It is hard but rewarding, I know this is such an important thing for me to be doing and am excited to get out of my shell and talk to more people.

As a goal I have chosen to talk to more people, and that can be awkward and I second guess myself a lot, but I am going to put myself in those situations to be better, because you are either changing for the better or for the worse. 

Love you all

May 9, 2016

From Mom:

Dear Elder Smith,

We all loved the Skype call yesterday. It was definitely a highlight of the year! It's not enough time, of course, and we couldn't get everything in. 

One thing I wanted to tell you about is the crazy forest fire that got so close to Fort McMurray they had to evacuate the entire city of 88 000. So now Edmonton and area has 88 000 displaced people. 1600 houses burned and no one knows how long it will be before the people can go back to the community. The fire is still raging.

It's almost unbelievable how quickly things can change, but this is the cool part....

Everyone has responded to magnificently to help these people. This is what I've seen and heard but there is so much more.

• * There were so many people evacuating from Fort McMurray, that the city got gridlocked. One woman said she could see the fire coming but they couldn't move their car. Scary! Luckily everyone got out (there is even footage of cars driving with the trees on both sides of highway in flames, embers falling on the hoods of vehicles) BUT eventually people ran out of gas on the side of the highway down the road. Out of danger but now stuck. The few gas stations there were between Fort Mac and Edmonton were quickly sold out of everything. People in North Edmonton quickly went out and bought all the jerry cans they could, filled them with gas and rescued those people, one at the time... For free!
• *I think the province, through donations has collected about twenty million dollars.
• *Our Relief Society went to help with sorting donations and they were turned away because so many people were already volunteering.
• *Hotels have offered their rooms for free.
• *Restaurants offered food for free.
• *My friend, Joanne McLennan from Nova Scotia, contacted me to let me know there was a friend of hers from Fort Mac was staying in Leduc with relatives. She asked if I could check on her. Ben and I went with popsicles and toilet paper. Ha ha. She said that they had time to pray as a family and there was no fear as they left. And they are taken care of. I was able to let Joanne know all was well with her friend.
• *The hardest hit area of the city is also where the church was but it was miraculously preserved.

Oh, there so much more, but I love how the people of Alberta have unified to help. The people of Fort Mac feel loved. Our province has this feeling of #AlbertaProud. It's really nice to see people stepping up.

Crisis affects change, and in this case, I think the change is good. Time will tell if it sticks.

Anyway, love you lots. So proud. Keep going, keep moving your feet.

Love,

Mom

From Josh:

Man I heard about the fire and I forgot to ask about it, that is crazy, I am glad that everyone is safe, I was worried about that for a bit. 

There were many things that I wished I could have said too, something I have learned while on a mission is that information carefully recorded is important and that you don't know what you will need in the future, one thing I wish I continued doing is yearly pictures, a family in the Chatsworth Ward decided to take a family picture every year in the spot they were married, they have been married nearly twenty years and have twenty pictures of their family growing every year since their wedding, and I remember that I have one of those for a couple years but did not see the interest in it, now I see how cool it would be to see my growth every year.

I also wish I had specific addresses I had wrote down from Halifax because in halifax I was super vague on every detail and I now have no specific information to remember there.

I have also seen the importance of writing in my journal, I have written in it everyday since 3 days before my mission, and I am devotedly doing it for the rest of my mission so that my family can read my experiences and remember what it was like for me.

To everyone in the Smith family! Write in your journals, even the most mundane days can be the greatest treasure, I am reminded of how when we go to Ontario for our big family reunion how we go Metal detecting and are excited to find even a small kitchen knife and treasure things that back then would be counted as pretty much worthless, just think how cool it is to see grandma's Sega Genesis, and how fun it is to play what back then would be something that was a regular thing to own. all this is to show that what you write down now will be a treasure to you for many years to come, I remember when dad would come out and tell us really cool things from his mission because he had been reading his mission journals, The Book of Mormon is a journal of a people, The bible is a record of a people, if you aren't going to write for yourself write for future generations, write things that you think will be of value for your family to know about you, and since you don't know what your family will value, it is important to write as much as you can, Nephi made large plates with the secular history, and he made a separate set just for his spiritual experiences, you never know the impact you could have on those people who will read your words, whatever they may be, so write in your journal!

That is what my feeling was to write and now that I have fulfilled it I am at a loss for words.

How is Bailey doing? 

Is seminary going well?

What is something that you feel that I can do more in my emails, Sam said they were pretty vague so I have been trying to figure out how I can be better at being more specific and finishing a thought, the problem is that I will have one thing that I feel I should write and I am driven for that purpose until I feel like I have said enough on it and then end my thought. 

Anyway, I love you all, it was so great to see all of your faces. 

Stay true in the gospel, because it is true.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have ran out of time and wanted to send everyone something.

We have finished the Book of Mormon as a Zone and I have felt my Testimony grow so much, and thought I could share it with you.

These things I know.

God is our loving Heavenly Father, I know that he answers prayers with everything we need, and will grant unto us the things which we ask with a broken heart and contrite spirit.

I know that Jesus Christ suffered the atonement for us all, that he is the savior of the world and that he knows everything we are going through,

I have come to find out for myself that the Book of Mormon is a record of sacred scripture and I know what it speaks of is true, I know this through the confirming witness of the Holy Spirit in direct answers to my prayers, I know that in answer to a young boys prayer in 1820 God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and has truly restored through Joseph Smith, His church on the earth, I know that God continues to reveal his will today through his Prophet and his apostles I know they are truly called of God and that they direct this church in the ways of light and life. I know this all and will not deny it because I know with a certainty that it is all true.

Elder Joshua Smith

May 2, 2016

We were knocking on doors when this guy said that he had promised his Mormon friend that he would take a picture of any missionaries that knock on his door and send it to our parents, I had him send it to me so I could have the picture also.

Date: Sat, Apr 30, 2016 at 5:14 PM
Subject: Photos Of your children. Enjoy.

Wow how time seems to zoom by! It feels like I was Emailing just yesterday! I can't believe I have been out 4 1/2 months already!

Real quick as this email time is already coming quickly to a close.

Tuesday April 26

Weekly planning was interrupted a lot today as we helped Brother Lamb an older Gentlemen in the ward remove a giant pool cover from his GIANT pool, seriously everyone here in California has a pool in their backyard.

We taught a lesson to Larry Bell and set a date for him to be baptized on June 18!

Wednesday April 27 

I have now been alive for 20 years, I thank my family for putting up with me for all these years.

Zone Soccer this morning for my birthday was really fun, when we got home we opened our apartment door and found breakfast already on the table and as we walked in our zone leaders jumped out from behind the wall of our apartment hallway,

some of the sisters made sure to get me a cake

Thursday April 28

We were able to give service to a less active family in our ward and just helped her around their apartment as they are the apartment building managers.

On a surprise exchange me and elder call found a young boy named David who is interested in learning about the gospel

Friday April 29

District lunch! we finalized our monthly goals at a chicken cafe and got to know each other a little better.

We taught a lady named Lisette again today and said she did not want us to teach her anymore... :'( 

Ward fundraiser was a blast! and we were able to meet so many new people.

Saturday April 30

We took David Howell (a priest from the ward) to a lesson but when it fell through we decided to go knock some houses and so we were able to give him the chance to feel like a missionary as he is preparing for his mission

Sunday May 1

Fast and testimony meeting today, a lot of great testimonies,

We went to the Makanuii's today and they fed us Enchilada's and everytime I go over there I over stuff myself like its thanksgiving, and have to roll myself out of their door. 

Until next time my friends and family, I love you all.

Elder Joshua Smith

I hope everyone is doing well and keeping out of trouble.

This week in our reading of the Book of Mormon we are in 3 Nephi 17 and I love reading the words of Jesus, Throughout reading the Book of Mormon I have been blessed with the opportunity to strengthen my testimony, when we started reading it as a Zone I was in the middle of my hard time, I had just established what I believed in for sure, I knew that Heavenly Father answered Prayers and that Jesus Suffered and died for me. Everything else, The Book Of Mormon, Joseph Smith, This Church was thrown into doubt, I didn't know anything for sure, I was faced with so much negativity that I had never previously faced. Throughout the time I have been reading the Book of Mormon, teaching the Gospel, and sharing my testimony, I have by small degrees been discovering, and solidifying my testimony, I have come to know for myself that The Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, that we have a living prophet and twelve apostles truly leading this church, they are called by God to stand as witnesses for him and Jesus Christ, I have come to know for myself that these things are true, and I cannot doubt that I am truly doing a great work, I have seen too much to doubt that this is right. I am committed to doing the will of the Lord during my mission and forever after. 

Strengthen your testimonies, read the scriptures and pray for understanding and a continual witness that these things are true, I know of a certainty that they are because the spirit has born witness to my mind and heart that they are. 

Never fear, only believe. 

I love you guys so much, Please work hard at becoming closer to the Lord and continue to grow in all your talents because the Lord will use your talents for the good in all you do, we had a lesson with an investigator, and sadly it was our last lesson, but as we left I tore out a page in my notebook that had a batman drawing I had made, and gave it to one of the investigators sons who loved batman, we might not have been the ones to convert her, but sometime in the future, something will bring her to knowledge of the truth. 

I got your email dad, and will make sure to get that file to you asap, and for Skype next week I can't remember the time differences, it should be around 4 California time, so it should be around then that I can make the call. 

Continue to build up yourselves to the leaders I know you all are.

Love 

Josh

P.S 

I have a problem I have discovered about myself, I do not take too many pictures... I guess I just never remember, its just not my focus to take pictures, so I will try to do better, this next week.